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Accounting for change in national systems of innovation: A friendly critique based on the U.S. case

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  • Hart, David M.

Abstract

This paper advances a friendly critique of the national systems of innovation approach and offers some suggestions for its future development. I argue that the approach has difficulty accounting for bounded change in national systems. I review three recent changes in the U.S. innovation system - the Internet boom and bust of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the acceleration of productivity growth since the mid-1990s - in order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the framework in this respect. Future research might be enriched, at least in the case of large national innovation systems, by absorbing concepts developed in other strands of institutionalist literature, such as "intercurrence" and "embeddedness".

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  • Hart, David M., 2009. "Accounting for change in national systems of innovation: A friendly critique based on the U.S. case," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 647-654, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:38:y:2009:i:4:p:647-654
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    Cited by:

    1. Soete, Luc & Verspagen, Bart & ter Weel, Bas, 2010. "Systems of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1159-1180, Elsevier.
    2. Ibrahim Alnafrah & Sulaiman Mouselli, 2020. "The Role of National Innovation Systems in Entrepreneurship Activities at Baltic State Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(1), pages 84-102, March.
    3. Dodgson, Mark & Hughes, Alan & Foster, John & Metcalfe, Stan, 2011. "Systems thinking, market failure, and the development of innovation policy: The case of Australia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1145-1156.
    4. Jean Belin & Marianne Guille & Nathalie Lazaric & Valérie Mérindol, 2019. "Defense Firms Adapting to Major Changes in the French R&D Funding System," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 142-158, February.
    5. Abroskin, Alexander (Аброскин, Александр) & Abrоskina, Natalyа (Аброскина, Наталья), 2015. "Statistical Analysis of the Development of Services in the Russian Federation [Статистический Анализ Развития Сферы Услуг В Рф]," Published Papers mn12, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    6. Rakas, Marija & Hain, Daniel S., 2019. "The state of innovation system research: What happens beneath the surface?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    7. Nathalie Lazaric & Valerie Merindol & Sylvie Rochhia, 2011. "Changes in the French Defence Innovation System: New Roles and Capabilities for the Government Agency for Defence," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(5), pages 509-530.
    8. Gherhes, Cristian & Yu, Zhen & Vorley, Tim & Xue, Lan, 2023. "Technological trajectories as an outcome of the structure-agency interplay at the national level: Insights from emerging varieties of AI," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).

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